Tunku Abdul Rahman

Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 1903-6 December 1990) was Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1 August 1955 to 22 September 1970, preceding Abdul Razak. Commonly known simply by his royal title of "Tunku", he was the founding father of Malaysia, the architect of Malaysian independence, and the first leader of the independent country (having led the Federation of Malaya from 1955 to 1957).

Biography
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj ibni al-Marhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah was born in Alor Star, Kedah, Malaysia on 8 February 1903. He was the son of Abdul Hamid Halim of Kedah, the 24th Sultan of Kedah, and he studied at Cambridge University and qualified as a British lawyer. He returned to Malaya in 1931, and he entered the civil service, continuing to serve under Japanese occupation. Tunku cofounded the United Malays National Organization and succeeded Dato Onn bin Jaafar as leader in 1952. He recognized that independence could only be achieved through cooperation between the various ethnic groups, and he allied with the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Malayan Indian Congress for the 1955 elections, leading to his election as Chief Minister. He negotiated independence and became the first Prime Minister of Malaysia,  presiding over the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1962-1963, and he secured the support of both the Chinese and Indian communities through pragmatic compromise. During the May 1969 general elections, there were widespread ethnic riots in the capital, and Tunku was forced to resign as Prime Minister in January 1970 as the harmony between the Chinese and Malays broke down. He continued to remain an influential figure in Malaysia during retirement due to his activism in political journalism, and he died in 1990.